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Morel mushrooms!

My last post has got me thinking about spring and the only thing more imprtant than the bees, Morels! I usually manage to get more than I can eat every year, and I need a good way to preserve them for later.
I have tried dehydrating them but they shrink so much that its almost not worth doing, When you try to freeze them they just turn to watery mush when thawed.
Does anyone have a good way to preserve them?

Re: Morel mushrooms!

Morel mushroom hunting is popular around here as well. We always like to go out and look for them around dying elm trees around the time the lilacs are blooming. After letting them soak in saltwater overnight, I pat them down with a towel and roll them in flour. I put them flat on wax paper, then put another sheet of wax paper over that, and keep adding layers like that and put the whole works in a Tupperware container. From there they go straight in the freezer. When you're ready to fry 'em up, just put them in the fryer while frozen. They taste the same to me as when they were fresh.

Re: Morel mushrooms!

phil c, the trick is to pick only the ones that are a foot tall or more, that way when you dehydrate them they are still good size, LOL. Seriously now, I pick them myself and just dry them, its the easiest way I know of to preserve them, they do shrivel up alot though. John

Re: Morel mushrooms!

Originally Posted by phil c

My last post has got me thinking about spring and the only thing more imprtant than the bees, Morels! I usually manage to get more than I can eat every year, and I need a good way to preserve them for later.
I have tried dehydrating them but they shrink so much that its almost not worth doing, When you try to freeze them they just turn to watery mush when thawed.
Does anyone have a good way to preserve them?

Phil as soon as I so your post I thought someone had found morels already, my next favorite thing to do besides beekeeping.
They sure go good with a big Elk steak!
Can't wait for this crazy weather to leave so I can go look'n for some!

Re: Morel mushrooms!

Try splitting the cleaned 'rooms in halves (small) or quarters (large) and gently sauteing in butter until most of their moisture evaporates. Spread them out on a cookie sheet to cool to room temp. Freeze spread out on the same cookie sheet. When well frozen, pop the cooked mushrooms off the cookie sheet, bag, and return to freezer. The texture may stay better for you that way.

FWIW, don't use a dehydrator in the house to dry morels. The evaporated moisture can trigger allergic reactions in some people. My husband is one of them. --DeeAnna

Re: Morel mushrooms!

DeeAnna, I dry mine by slicing them in half when raw, then using a heavier string I string them along fairly close together and hang up the string between a couple nails in my warm dry sunroom, takes about 4-5 days of that and they are ready to be bagged up in brown paper lunch bags, that's all I do. John

Re: Morel mushrooms!

Does anyone hunt for Maitake shrooms, sometimes called Hen of the Woods, I like them just about as much as Morels, except when you find one they are a much, much bigger clump of shrooms. They come out in my area of Michigan along about the first of cooler weather in the fall soon after rains. John

Re: Morel mushrooms!

Re: Morel mushrooms!

Originally Posted by jmgi

Does anyone hunt for Maitake shrooms, sometimes called Hen of the Woods, I like them just about as much as Morels, except when you find one they are a much, much bigger clump of shrooms. They come out in my area of Michigan along about the first of cooler weather in the fall soon after rains. John

I do a fair amount of fall shrooming. Hen of the woods are tasty but I prefer oysters or wild shitakes, When I can find them elephant ears or sulphers are a prize!

Remember there are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters but there are no old AND bold mushroom hunters!

Re: Morel mushrooms!

We bought a mushroom kit ($20 sale price) from Steins Garden Center in early December for the button ones. Beautiful, big, and tasty cooked or raw! Grew them right in the box in the mix. No log! I will do this again. We got our moneys worth. They almost grew too fast for us, but now that I know we can freeze or dry them that will help. I would get them again. I got a seed catalog recently that had many varieties in them, but I think shipping was expensive.

One thing, we let a few of the mushrooms mature and got brown spores all over the mix. Can we use that to seed a spot out in the yard or to seed another "mix"?

I would love to go pick mushrooms in the outdoors! But not very knowledgeable. I did read though to be careful of the false morels!

LOL at this..... we camp way up north in Wisconsin and came upon a road called "Chicken of the woods" and I said "What the heck is up with a name like that?" Found out a few years later that it is the name of a mushroom. It's a perfect name for a road around there! Also, as a teenager was up at my aunt's cottage and her father-in-law picked mushrooms for a meal. I declined to eat them as I was worried about them being safe. He was a senior.......LOL he must have known what he was doing.

Re: Morel mushrooms!

Just saw this thread and made me smile second year hunter here, had alot of fun hunting last year and found a few too. The kids and I will be lookin for the rest of our lives. Great oppurtunity to get the family in da woods. I tell my suspicious friends and family it is like an adult easter egg hunt, they dont understand until they eat some.

Re: Morel mushrooms!

Dehydrate the morels. That's the best way to preserve them. Hen of the woods are great pressure canned. I only have one jar left :-(. Nothing like finding a 25 lb mushroom.lol Maybe except for finding 100 lbs worth in 1 day.

Re: Morel mushrooms!

You guys are making me hungry! Morels dry nicely in my dehydrator, think it is called a harvest something or other, round with a lot of trays.
Morels are kind of iffy in my neck of the woods, some years very few.
Miatake are quite numerous and giant puffballs the size of socker balls to basketballs are not too plentiful, however the puffballs in our yard are quite delicious sliced and breaded before pan frying.
Now that you made me hungry I am headed to the kitchen!

Re: Morel mushrooms!

Went out late yesterday afternoon after the storms were done here. I found better than 50 morels under a Wheeling and Lake Erie RR trestle. What was strange was that not a one was found out from under the trestle. Every one of the morels were located within the shadow of the bridge.

Since I'm off work tomorrow I'm going to go to my favorite morel picking ground and see what I can find. It's a little over two miles back to the spot but it's normally worth the walk. I found the spot a number of years ago when I was spring gobbler hunting. I didn't get a gobbler that year but I figure I got something even better, a morel picking ground that almost never fails to produce.

Re: Morel mushrooms!

It's supposed to reach 70 degrees in southern Iowa tomorrow, so I'll be poking around in the woods this weekend after I hive my packages. We are on the early side for morels here, but I hope to find some little ones.

I like drying my extra morels in a food dehydrator. Yea, they do shrink, but they return to near normal size once they've soaked in water. If you have an aversion to fine yellow spore dust all over your kitchen counters and the pungent aroma of warm morels in your house all day, I'd suggest you put the dehydrator out in the garage or on the back porch.

Re: Morel mushrooms!

My neck snapped when i saw the headline . I went last week checking and didnt see a shroom in my secret spot . Its still been cold here in se mi . Funny thing was i didnt get a tick on me when i should have been covered . I use the dehydrator ,yes they do shrink but i feel its packs more flavor . Use the water or milk that you soak em in . I think they will be very late here this yr . Good hunting ,